Automated Rheometer Enhances Efficiency in Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar Gas Field

_ This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 227670, “Enhancing Drilling Efficiency: Real-Time Rheology and Density Profiling With RheoProfiler in Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar Gas Field,” by Arnott Dorantes, SPE, Raed Ghali, SPE, and Diana Torres, SPE, SLB, et al. The paper has not been peer-reviewed. _ This paper presents the large-scale deployment and operational integration of an advanced, automated rheometer in the Ghawar gas field, one of the world’s most prolific and technically complex hydrocarbon developments. As drilling operations evolve toward greater digitalization, the demand for real-time data, automation, and integrated workflows has increased significantly. This paper presents the large-scale deployment and operational integration of the RheoProfiler 200, an advanced, automated rheometer, in the Ghawar gas field, one of the world’s most prolific and technically complex hydrocarbon developments. The device, in combination with a drilling-fluids advisor and a mature real-time operations center (RTOC) framework, was implemented to overcome longstanding challenges in drilling-fluid monitoring, including delayed data, human error, limited data accessibility, and reactive decision-making. RheoProfiler The device is an advanced, fully automated rheometer specifically engineered for testing the density and rheological properties of drilling fluids, including water-based, oil-based, and synthetic mud systems. Weighing approximately 34 kg, the unit is designed for indoor operation and is ideally suited for installation in fluids-engineer cabins at the rig site. This device enables consistent and reliable mud testing while minimizing manual intervention. It performs key measurements including mud weight (density), plastic viscosity, yield point, and gel strengths (10-second and 10-minute) and transmits the results by wellsite information transfer standard markup language protocol to centralized data platforms. Although real-time data transmission is supported, results typically are reported with a short delay of a few minutes, depending on operational workflows.